Hermetically sealed damping device



May 17, 1960 Filed Nov.

L. PERAS l-IERMETICALLY SEALED DAMPING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L uc l'en em.s

"U d St e Paten .W... r i .l e, HUM i I def 1 in which ;a piston;2 :is mounted .fortreesliding movement,.the oppositeiodsfi, 3 ofthi's pistonextenda ,.2.,9'36;60 I ing lt hrongh e hnttonis or en g a l o he v ng e t t an. av-in t eirouter en stsecure to t ecentra region EHEWTICALITYSEAEEWDAMP of a pair of fluid-proof flexible covers or diaphragrns Lucien Pei-as; Billancourt, ram in 1 -Begie' 5, 'Ihese cove s t r d aphr gm 1 .ar al ocseiNationa e .d s aUsin s ,tRenaul ifi l an bu t, F a cured at o th ute s n t vl 1, b th connect ons 4, t ndtfinfi'tbe g flu i h rThe c a Al lp m 7 msgiseflalfNw 7745338 hers-J, 7 formedrbetw een;the-inner-wallsoftheiflexible Cl i rlorl 1i ation France Decem l'i -P eandthe pater faces theqylindq-bottoms a i P c be 5 ortend ,walls, astwell.aslthebchambers 8, 8 on .eitherwsi de f a nn glint-0 88*) r of the piston 2, are filled with a suitable dampingtfiuid.

. Ihmchambers 7 .and,.,8 formed on Same side of the pis- .t Zcommunicate witheach ,other-through one ormore Ibi inven on relates in gene a to .ldam igls d vi 9 vres-o l ke .sm l xseetion enas e e :so that the dampa nfdfh particular referencetp improyemlflntsingl'Jfilgiing fluid, when flowing through theseorificesor passages ing to .fl dfil d shoke hsorbin devices 9f t e i P fr otn fihamber 7 .to chamber 8 .and vice-.versa, undergenerally called fdash-potsfi da ii fldzip Providetabrahgoest a substantial pressuresdro p. -In this example, the

ing or retarding force increasing withthe relative.yeloeity passages consist ,of the annular .clea t nces .9, 9"left beof movement between the piston element andithe eylintween the rod .3, 3 and the corresponding end .walls. other element, this force being as .near as possible do gZCI lor bottomsrof ,thecylinder. lMoreover, these chambers whenthis.re ati e speed.istmll- Itt' oneobie q l h s. 7, 8 a e interco n t bro he o fi s c n p i eutiqn .toprovide Ta.dampingflevie to this vgeneral sure drops considerably lower than those obtaining tenwhi h emys s'it-ixe-ini h t h brakin -s throu h .th s arances 9' .butt n thi cea efire-flui I s substantially pull a gero relativetspeed, without circulates only.in-the direetion of the arrows. v mp i i laco plet ti htnes p tthesi vi a ain n th mp i unidi e tienal .flui c u at lleah sw. 1 i tqb a n bvn o i insiaiseries f holes ;10,, ';fonn- "This inven on ..is suitable :f th .t ai r tY .Q ins.t -s th t 1at ely'ec2ns der b -;tota -.c s :seetiot Jsnown ,and conventional Lapphcation .of g sh -pot ype a1 rea, the ehol .be naeheek d\ vva m mber applied to ;inte med at damping .de ices- It" -r.ti1 a lvadvanteg u en 1.4 .onenl n .in th di ctio -of t e arr w -,iti, med at y sit q'n ndiator mnfil tl tmg a tthe ressur inshambe c e -t t r ssur built he .ntaint enmnen m re o levelling mean re l k an .ch mbe .18. --Q y. ly, i a pressur 'di-fi typefu'sedflin suspension syste .of automotive we icle occurs i th iepp si e ectiq th val mem ers a: ma nt ining th i .snended,-.Q rspuing as o the or b ea ednnth .h lesl iw -1 5) to1 n e!en vchi1e- .to .alconstantlev oe h i h nd p nden lyo hezp s ge o .fluidi meh m eri (o t f=)it ehanaber th lo 'dsarried.bvt eveh iA-ttx eale mnl .yof f .(0r

this application will ,bedescribed presently. I Thisarrangcment of the chambers, orifices and valyes when .daslnpot damping vdevices ,are m unted f the {device constitutes .acharacteris tic feature obthis for operation in a fluid medium to be {separated .-or invention which will be evidenced in :the following de-Q isolated from the fluid filling the vdash-pots, ;-they are 40 scfiption'of the Operation of the iqe, wh eh.. sl iven usually characterized by the drawback of exerting a relaw t leierence ,to Fig. 2- tively important braking .action :even at :zero relative whenthedashrpot piston Zisurged forexamplpin speed, due either .to .the .use .of rotary-pr sliding packt ed -r ue h 3 T W nih 1ehamber 8 .is pressurized ings or sea-ls 'directly responsive to the working presand thefiuidcontained ;the rein is forced ,through .1116

ure f the fiuid ortothe iact that \their operation is passa into h dj en h m r .aud'toatminor attended by.-thetdeforn1ation of diaphragms, the stiffness A e t n i to theether c a be 1 on ia eouu of :possible of iwhichis sufficient.toresistthe worlcing pressure 'gf leakages around thepiston at :12. Due to; thei1oSS.;Of the-fluid. j pressure esultingifromthe p s a o fiii zacr sscand i:Now,- thistinventionprovides means for avoiding this 1 v., P Q$$1 iQ ip q ii .eh m rsfl'a d rtegcondrawback, its chieffeature lying inithe fact that it is li vlewe tha .thos -lquil prll n i iibber so designed that the members provided for sealing the 1 i i. tIF an .m y en be new law d ne ding iq it 'device from the external rnediurn'are subjected to a design 0 the diaphfagms pressure constantly lower than the operating pressure of' on the other hand, the Pressure in Chamber 7 is y the fluid contained therein." I W very moderately higher than that obtaining in chamber In order to afford a clear understanding of this inven- 8 since the liquid filling it is urged in the direction of the tion and of the'manner in which the same maybe carried 55 arrows f and flows mainly through th 110165 10 which, out in the practice, reference will now be made to the y construction, create y moderate 108 68 f pressure attached drawings forming part of this specification and for the prac l range of piston speeds. illustrating diagrammatically by way of example a few As a rule, the pressures in the two flexible cases 5, 5' typical forms of embodiment of the invention. In the are thus quite inferior to the working pressure of the drawings: dash-pot, that is, the pressure in chamber 8' during this Figure 1 is an axial section showing a damping demovement. The end covers or diaphragm may therefore vice constructed according to the teachings of this inbe designed accordingly so as to have a great flexibility vention; and this feature combined with the arrangement of the Figure 2 is a similar view of the same device to illuschambers and fluid passages in the device impart to the trate its mode of operation, and latter the desired high sensibility.

Figure 3 is an axial section showing a practical ap- Of course, it would not constitute a departure from plication of the device of this invention when used as V the principles of this invention if elements of a difierent means for detecting the average position and therefore character, of the type comprising or co-acting with slidpermit the correct-ion of the level in a pneumatic susing packings or seals, for example, were substituted for pension element of a vehicle. the flexible diaphragms 5, 5' and if the valves described The dash-spot illustrated in Fig. 1 consists of a cylinwere replaced by devices having the same function.

In this example, the suspension system element (Fig. 3)

consists of a pair of cylinders 13, 14 mounted and assembled for relative axial sliding movement in each other, and filled with a. gas under pressure. Each cylinder is secured by means of a suitable lug 15, 16 to the body and to the unsprung mass of the vehicle, one of these suspension system elements being associated with each wheel.

A sliding seal 17 is provided between the two cylinders 13, 14. V

The dash-pot described hereinabove is secured by its piston rod 3 to the upper portion of cylinder 13.

The dash-pot body 1 is surrounded by and solid with I downwards and releases the inlet valve 22. This condi an annular member 18 having attached to a suitable groove thereof one end 19 of a tension spring 20 having its opposite end 21 secured to the bottom of cylinder 14, as shown.

Valves 22, 23 are fitted in the top or end wall of the upper cylinder 13 for introducing gas under pressure into, and releasing gas from, the inner space of cylinders 13, 14, respectively.

The free or unstressed length of spring is equal to the distance from the reference face 18f of member 18 to the bottom of cylinder 14 on the one hand when this annular member is inits intermediate position between the ends 24 and 25 of the control shanks of valves 22 and i 23 and on the other hand when the cylinders 13 and 14 are in their reference relative or intermediate position (corresponding to the average position of the sprung mass In the case of relatively high frequencies (i.e. from i one cycle per second up), the dash-pot oscillation remains relatively very moderate by design, and the valves 24 and 25 are not engaged by the annular member 18,

. the spring 20 being subjected to the oscillation of the suspension system.

In the case of considerably lower frequency values the dash-pot, due to the sensitiveness and to the action of spring 20, follows the displacements of the cylinder 14 relative to cylinder 1.3. Finally, if the load carried by the vehicle is altered, for example increased, the pneumatic element of the suspension system will tend to become shorter and to assume a different average position. The now compressed spring 20 will lift the dash-pot and the annular member 18 will finally open the valve 22. Thus, gas under pressure is fed to the suspension element through this valve until the annular member 18 is moved tion is obtained when the dash-pot is restored to its average position by the spring 20 acting as a traction member.

With a highly sensitive dash-pot only a very moderate traction exerted by this spring is sufficient for discontinuing the supply of gas'under pressure, this supply being stopped when the cylinders resume a position very close to their reference average position, whereafter the correction'is completed.

If the load transported by the vehicle is reduced, the correcting device will operate in a similar way but in this case it is the exhaust valve 23 that will be opened momentarily.

Of course, an average-position detector of this character may also be associated with different suspension elements, for example of the deformable or bellows type, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Again, many modifications as to the proportions, dimensions, and relative proportions of the parts constituting the dash-pot may be altered without departing from the basic principles of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

Fluid-containing damping device characterized in that it comprises a cylinder with closed ends, in which a slidably mounted piston provided with a pair of opposite rods forms therein two opposite chambers, each chamber communicating with an adjacent space forming an ex tension of the chamber, said space being bound by flexible members fixed to the piston rods and cylinder ends and being sealed to the cylinder ends, said chambers and spaces being filled with a damping liquid and passages provided between each chamber and the adjacent space being gauged and adapted to create predetermined losses of pressure therebetween during fluid flow therethrough, said passages including larger passages controlled by check valve means and adapted to create only very modf crate losses of pressure in the space-to-chamber direction,-

whereby a considerable sensitiveness is imparted to the device wherein, said flexible members for sealing the device from the external medium are subjected only to a pressure considerably lower than the working pressure built up in the chambers of the device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,641,640 Myers Sept. 6, 1927 1,936,788 Hardy Nov. 28, 1933 2,361,575 Thompson Oct. 31, 1944 2,719,611 Carbon Oct. 4, 1955 2,815,829 Boehm et a1. Dec. 10, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 475,877

Germany -May 11, 1927. 

